FRANCE, NASCAR FOUNDER, DIES

William France, the father of stock car racing and founder of the Daytona 500, died Sunday at the age of 82.

France died at his home in Ormond Beach. He had been seriously ill for the past two years.

The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) was a personal dream that the 6-foot-5-inch, broad-shouldered auto mechanic turned into reality.

France, known to nearly everyone involved in racing as ''Big Bill,'' was a racer, building his first car at 17. He went on to drive cars and motorcycles in competition, although for years he made his living working on cars in his native Washington, D.C.

He decided in 1934 to move his family south, heading toward Miami. However, they wound up 300 miles north of their destination, in Daytona Beach, when France`s battered car broke down.

''I could have fixed that car and gone on,'' France once said. ''But we just liked the area and decided to stay.''

He founded NASCAR late in 1947 and stepped down from the presidency in 1972, turning over the reins to his sons, Bill Jr. and Jim.

The high-banked 2.5-mile Daytona track was another France dream that turned to gold. France came up with the idea of building the track in 1953. It took years to overcome political, financial and practical problems, but the first Daytona 500 was run in 1959.